Safe Temperatures

[Luke29UK]

Hi i have a PC that i like to play games on like Battlefield 3 and Dead Space 2 along with others.

My PC is a Intel i5 2500k @3.3Ghz, I have 8GB of RAM and GTX 560Ti 2GB Ultra Charged from Point of View. On my CPU i have only the standard cooler and want to know what is the safe temperatures for my bits.

My CPU is idle and is 30 degrees Celsius
The Motherboard is 34 degrees Celsius
The Graphics card is 30 degrees Celsius
and my Hard Drive is at 40

When i play Battlefield the CPU goes to around 50 and the graphics card about 60 .. what i would like to know is does this hurt it? am i safe at those temperatures and if so how high before it gets bad for my computer? thanks

 

[Luke29UK]

Thanks.

If i could also ask a couple more questions.

I have some PCI slots on my motherboard that aren't being used .. what can i plug in there? i'd like to make use of them somehow but i don't really know what to put in them.

 

[Luke29UK]

My case is nothing special, it cost me like £25 or thereabouts i think it's an EZCool. I have a 120mm back fan and a 80mm front fan.

What soundcards are good value for money and PCI? would i need to change the power supply? I have a 850w Bequiet one, will that be enough?

Usually i just buy a computer and play games till the PC cant play them then buy another, i am not great at making choices when it comes to computer bits so buying a PC every 18 months was always easier.

 

[Luke29UK]

I have just changed my case for a Zalman Z9 Plus as i was told it was a good starting case for gaming and my temps on average are about 5 to 10 degrees lower on all components. I bought a Asus Xonar 7.1 PCI sound card to fill one of the slots free, i also ordered a wireless PCI network card @150Mbps.

Do you think i chose the right things or am i overloading my pc with stuff?. If my Power supply is "overkill" does that mean i should get a less powerful one? i was told by the seller that the 850w Bequiet was a high end PSU and would suit my needs but i can never tell if its just sales patter.

 

[Luke29UK]

The motherboard temperature is still the highest of all components reaching around 65*C after a couple of hours playing Battlefield 3 using a mix of high and ultra graphics. I would like to upgrade from the stock cooler on my CPU, will that help keep the motherboard a bit cooler? If so what is a good Heatsink and powerful fan i have seen a couple of Zalman ones on overclockers but i am not sure how they are rated. I don't want to spend too much maybe 30 pounds or something.

what can get for that?

 

[Luke29UK]

Well i have room for a couple more case fans, i have 3 atm 1 sucking in from the front and 1 blowing out the back and 1 directly above that blowing vertically. I am just trying to get each component upgraded a bit so far i have done everything but the heatsink and fan plus the stock one looks dull and i have a window on my case so i was looking for something more aesthetically pleasing whilst also giving me a little extra cooling at the same time. I have 1155 chipset

 

[Luke29UK]

I used "Speccy" though i can't say it's 100% accurate.

When my components are @ CPU-55*C, MOBO-65*C GPU-55*C and HDD-50*C the readout on the exterior of my case says 36*C.

 

[Luke29UK]

I installed HWMonitor

While playing GTA4 for about an hour the temps were 64*C running the game then in the readout it said minimum 27*C Maximum 79*C

I got those figures from under "Temperatures" THRM-TMPIN0-TMPIN2

Is that right?

The temps on TMPIN0 and TMPIN2 were the same as THRM but roughly 2-4 degrees lower throughout

Readout on Front of case never went above 35*C